Morning journal and courier., 1887-01-01
THE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR.

Opening In Disheartenment And Clos ing With Confidence-Less Failures And Smaller Losses Than During The Previous Year-The Last Quuarter Unusually Plentiful of Failures.
 NEW YORK, Dec. 31.-R. G. Dun 6 Co. s weekly review of trade, which will be issued o-morrow, will say: Rarely a year opened with greater disheartenment than the year 1886. Rarely has year closed with more confidence The disheartenment was not wholly justified and there is some reason to fear that the confidence may be partly un- warranted. The failures for the year have been fewer than in 1885 and the aggregate of liabilities has been smaller. But the aver age for the year has been scarcely lower and for the last quarter failures have been both more numerous and larger than for the same quarter of 1885, the increase in amount of liabilities for that period being no less than forty per cent. During the past month the failures have been unusual in amount of liabilities without known disturbance or de- pression in important branches of trade to cause them. They come like "bolts out of the blue" and seem to indicate an unsxpect- ed expansion of credits. When it is remem- bered that familiar causes of such expansion have existed; that the currency has been largely increased and that wild speculation ran riot 8 month ago in stock and produce markets these failures with their rising vol tune of indebtedness justify fear that conf- dence has grown too fast. The natural in- ference is that some firms anxious to recover in few months the losses of several weary bav fl,air much of unsoundness in commercial credits has thus been produced it is not yet pos sible to judge. During the past week legitimate business has not been large in volume. The dullness usual in the closing week of the year is reported from all quarters. But though dealers are busy in making up accounts,t here is everywhere feeling of great confidence. Trading dur ing the past half year has been very large and generally remunerative. The prevailing tendency is to count upon a continued en- largement for the next season and it would be wise not to forget that it is possible to build too largely on the future even in a time of real and healthy improvement. Prices have advanced during the week in nearly all speculative markets@ A ficod of money from abroad stimulated trading here, while strin- gency is noted at Boston, and the Chicago this city, are talking of paying interest on deposits. Stocks are stronger in spite of a rise in the rate of exchange which in- dicates that foreigners are selling to some extent. Wheat has been active and has advanced 214, with sales of 31, GOO, 900 bushels in five days. Corn advances g cent and pork products are active. Cotton eli ainfo for and widely circulated small crop estimates. Coffee has advanced half cent, oil 2115 and iron 10 cents per ton with over $21 bid for the No. iron, which the Thomas company recently offered at $20. Copper is weaker, $11.S0. Production for the year has been only 19, ,000, ,000 pounds less than in 1885 and larger than in any other year, while the con- sumption appears to have increased 26 per cent for the year. Coal carriers are all embarrassed by lack of rolling stock and the output for the year having been the largest on record. The statistics of failures for the entire year 1886, compil by the mercantile agency of R. G. Dun & Co., up till noon of the last day of the year, showed falling off as compared with 1885. The number of business failures in the United States is g 1884 as compared with 10,637 in the year 1885, decrease of sos failures. The total liabilities of the failures of 1886 are S114,- OOO, 900 as compared with SPA, ,O0O, 900 in 1885. The number of traders reported in business by the mercantile agency in 1886 in the United States is 969, ,841. Of these one trader in ninety eight failed In 1885 there were 919, ,990 traders and of these in that year one trader in every eighty-six failed. The average liabilities per failure in 1886 is $11 ,651 against an average in 1885 of $11 ,675. Failures seem recently to have been unusually numerous and the figures for the last quarter of 1886 show that in number they reach 2.746, as against 2, 460 in the last quarter of 1885; the liabilities being respect lively $37 1000, 900 for 1886 in the last quarter, while for the last quarter of 1885 they were S05 GOO 000